Winderman’s view: Heat stand tall with power play of their own vs. Pistons

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Observations and other notes of interest from Thursday night’s 118-112 victory over the Detroit Pistons:

– Put aside the shooting for the moment.

– Because this wasn’t going to be about the shot making of Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware.

– This was going to be about whether the Heat could hold their own against the Pistons’ incredible bulk.

– Yes, Jalen Duren was lost for the night for the Pistons in the third quarter.

– But by then, the Heat showed they wouldn’t be pushed around by Duren or Isaiah Stewart.

– Who have done plenty of pushing around this season on the Pistons’ pathway to the top of the East.

– So, yes, Adebayo 5 of 14 from the field.

– But also 14 rebounds.

– So, yes, Ware 1 of 6 from the field.

– But also 13 rebounds.

– And yes, Nikola Jovic 1 of 10 from the field.

– But add in another five rebounds.

– So no Detroit dominance on the offensive glass.

– And an impressive, muscle flex of a Heat win.

– With Tyler Herro and Pelle Larsson out, the Heat again opened with a lineup of Kel’el Ware, Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Norman Powell and Davion Mitchell. That lineup entered 4-3.

– With the appearance, Adebayo tied Alonzo Mourning for third place on the Heat’s all-time regular-season games list (593) , behind only Dwyane Wade (948) and Udonis Haslem (879).

– Ware extended his career-best run of games with multiple offensive rebounds to 15.
– With Tobias Harris out, the Pistons opened with a big lineup of their own, with Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart andJalen Duren.

– Detroit entered 4-0 with that lineup.

– Jaime Jaquez Jr. again was first off the Heat bench.

– Nikola Jovic followed.

– With Dru Smith and Kasparas Jakucionis then entering together to make it nine deep.

– Jakucionis’ minutes were ceded to Larsson the previous game.

– Then, late in the second quarter, Simone Fontecchio entered for his first rotation action in four games.

– Immediately draining a 3-pointer against his former team.

– Powell went in stressing that the Heat could not allow the three-game winning streak entering the night impact the team’s process.

– “I think a lot of times around the league, when you start winning, you let things slide because you’re getting Ws,” he said at the morning shootaround. “But in winning, you can still have lessons in ways you can get better. So as long as we continue to focus on how we can continue to improve, that’s the biggest thing, you know, not letting our wins cover up all the mistakes.”

– Heat coach Erik Spoelstra did not necessarily want to hear going in that the previous six games between the teams were decided by single digits.

– “They’ve won the last four. I’m assuming that has everybody’s attention, too,” he said.

– It did.

– Mitchell stressed going in that sharing the ball has to remain the Heat’s way.

– “A lot of teams, you’ve got one player just scoring all the points and all the other guys are kind of just roaming around,” he said. “But us, I don’t feel like we play like that. We share the ball.”

– While always making sure Powell gets his.

– Spoelstra said the goal going in was clear, “They protect the paint, they protect the rim, first in blocks, so you have to make great rim decisions when you get there.”

– Spoelstra pregame again praised the efforts of J.B. Bickerstaff in elevating the Pistons to the top of the East.

– “They’ve built this really in steps. They haven’t skipped any steps along the way. I mean, it was just a couple years ago they had a long losing streak, but you could see they’re building some habits,” he said. “Then last year, J.B. knows how to build a culture, knows how to get a team committed to an identity, and then they build those habits every single day.”

– His team having scored 140 in the previous two, Spoelstra reiterated pregame there never was a definitive goal of establishing a record-setting offense in terms of pace and other unique elements.

– “I wasn’t really thinking about trying to break records or anything,” he said. “We were just trying to put together something that makes sense for our team, that brings out the best version in our group and also that would be scalable.”

– Spoelstra also made clear pace can’t be paramount.

– “We want our fan base to be excited about the style of play,” he said. “But we also have to do whatever is necessary to win in this league.”

– And then, as always, the cautionary from Spoelstra, “If it’s in the mud or if it’s not going fluidly, you still have to find a way to overcome and get the win.”

– The game was the Heat’s lone visit of the season.

– The game was the first of 17 for the Heat in January, the most for any month this season and tying for the most games during the month of January in franchise history (also 17 in January 2016, 2012 and 2010).

– The Heat are now 8-3 on New Year’s Day over the franchise’s 37 seasons.

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